Mancini believes chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak was heavily influenced by chief executive Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain when it came to dispensing with his services, and has since heard the wheels were in motion long before he left the hotseat.

He told The Sun on Sunday: "I know a lot of people in football and I found out afterwards that they were talking to three or four managers in February, March and April.